Chicago Tribune
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Catlin hasn’t sufficiently focused on the core family of Icarus (Nicole Shalhoub plays his mother), instead diffusing the action around other myths involving Minos, Theseus, Aetra, Androgeus, Minotaur and so on. That could work — after all, the actor Anthony Fleming III gets to play a young man going off to war, which can move anyone in any era. But the piece has no clear narrative arc. It feels far from finished. There is a contemporary outer frame that serves mostly to confuse. And you never really know whose journey, whose story, you are following. When this piece if retooled, that would be the place to start."
Chicago Sun Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...This 90-minute show can leave you lost and confused, longing for a more straightforward telling of the title story in which Daedalus, the brilliant but ever-distracted dad, continually keeps his son, Icarus, at arm's length, and only realizes the depth of his love for the boy after he attempts to free him by constructing wings that enable him to fly. Those wings, of course, will be the death of him."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Given Lookingglass Theatre Company's twin penchants for adapting myths and performing aerial acrobatics, I'm surprised the troupe took this long to get around to Icarus and his fatal flight. But I'm glad they waited: a younger, brasher Lookingglass might not have been able to encompass the sad, wise, deeply moving interpretation offered here by writer-director David Catlin."
Copley News Service
- Recommended
"...The stars of the evening are Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi, who created the circus choreography, lighting designer Jaymi Lee Smith, costume and properties designer Alison Siple, and sound designer and composer Rick Sims. Even when the story was a total puzzlement or dramatically inert, they gave us much of interest to see and hear, like when the troupe does clever things with suitcases, which represent everything from giant boulders to newly born babies."
Talkin Broadway
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Lovely, graceful imagery seems poorly matched against pretentious speechifying in this re-telling of the familiar Greek tragedy. Part Cirque du Soleil and part Klingon opera, this Icarus is at its best when it shuts the hell up."
Centerstage
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Much like a Cirque du Soleil show, "Icarus" is best when exploring the boundaries of flying choreography and spectacle (the sight of everyone in a crowded theater simultaneously throwing paper airplanes onto the stage is memorable). Artistic Director Catlin would do well to spend more time developing the emotional core and cohesion of the story."
Time Out Chicago
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Catlin’s theater-games staging has nice moments: Larry DiStasi’s Daedalus lays out Minos’ palace with chalk and an annual human sacrifice is chillingly evoked by empty little suits hung on a line. The elegant design epitomizes a certain ’gglass aesthetic: one part Robert Wilson, the other Ralph Lauren. Given the subject matter, one might expect more high-flying antics, but when Nicole Shalhoub, Lauren Hirte and Lindsey Noel Whiting clamber up aerial silks, the production soars."
ChicagoCritic
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The flying scenes, the lighting (by Jaymi Lee Smith), and the sound (by Rick Sims) offered interesting depth to the show but all the movement of chairs, suitcases and the stringing of rope around the stage only seemed to complicate the confusion. Catlin simply tried to tell too many stories here. For those who have never witnessed a Lookingglass Theatre production of a Greek myth, there is much to enjoy, especially with the flying and the creative movements. But, as storytelling, this Icrus does indeed crash and burn. A tighter focus is need with a clear narrative. The production values will be enough for some so I’d brush up on the myth of Icrus before seeing this show."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Recommended
"...This production is certainly not for all theater patrons. While it is filled with charm and some wonderful music (sound and music by Rick Sims), solid actors who can move like the wind and fly like the birds, it is the overall painting created by Catlin that makes this a meaningful theatrical experience. I found myself going back to my youth when I was forced to learn some of the Greek Mythology and how I never truly understood all the Gods and meaning. Tonight, I learned more in 90 minutes at Lookingglass than I did in 13 weeks of study and reading, so perhaps our students need to find a day to come to the Water Tower Water Works located at 821 N. Michigan Avenue (at Pearson) and enjoy learning!"
